The Amazing "Witch" like book

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	• The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Illustrated American Classics) Elizabeth George Speare Houghton Mifflin, 2001 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 383 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The book Witch of Black Bird Pond was an adventurous book as well as a bit of romance. It was about a girl who travels to America to find family to live with since her family died. She ends up finding them and they are taken by surprise by some things she can and can not do. As well as thing she posses like, beautiful dresses and money. She needs to help on their farm but is not used to that so she runs off only to find a little house in a meadow of flowers about a mile away from where she lives now and the lady walks up to her, the one from the little house. She returns home and they become pals but many believe that she is a witch. What happens in the end, read the book to find out.

I loved the book! It is probably a ten (10) and older book, and a book for adults too. It is an exciting book because who knows what a response or action will be next. I would rate The Witch of Black Bird Pond a five star (*****) book for its simply wonderful story. It's a book I would recommend but mostly for girls who love a bit of romance but mostly adventure.

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The Amazing "Witch" like book

The Witch of Blackbird Pond
By Jeffrey Bosmediano, White Plains, New York

ISBN#: 0-440-99577-9

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear

Can you imagine having to leave your Caribbean homeland to the past colder, bleak colony of Connecticut? Kit Tyler knows in the award winning, historical fiction book called The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Smith. This story takes place in 1687, the time when people started exploring and settling in the new world and when there was still slavery in the world.
Kit Tyler is an orphan whose grandfather died. Kit is forced to flee to her only living relatives left; her aunt in the Connecticut colony. Kit had to sell her precious items and slaves in order to afford a trip to Connecticut. She went up the Hudson River and ended at the town of Wethersfield. Kit was surprised to find out her aunt's family are Puritans and lived very differently then she did. I feel very sorry for Kit because she had to get used to the beliefs and ways they did.
It is also hard for her because she must do her own chores and cook unlike before because she had slaves to do the work for her and her grandfather. I can connect with Kit this way because as I got older, I had to do more responsibilities and start to do chores around the house. After a few months, Kit feels that she is useless and unwanted. One day, she runs out and goes to these meadows and falls to the grounds and cries. There she hears someone call her, and sees an old Quaker woman and she invites her to eat at her house near Blackbird Pond and Kit feels she can really connect with her. When Kit comes home she tells her family about what happened and said to not go there ever again because the town believes she's a witch. Kit doesn't listen and goes there a lot more times. After a disease falls on the town they believe the Old woman is responsible and they burn her house but Kit saves her in time. The day after Kit is accused of witchcraft herself! Who will help Kit in her in her time of need? In order to escape problems just like Kit, you will have to follow her gut feelings to escape this problem.
I would recommend this book to both parents and teenagers because the facts and storyline are very interesting. It was so good that it won the Newberry Award. This book also shows how strict religions were and how people lived in the colonies. This is what I think about the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond

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The Witch of Blackbird Pond

ISBN 0440495962 - Excellent, well written book for ages 12 and up, Witch is more likely to appeal to girls. This book has enough romance to make it unappealing to some, but it deserves the Newbery Award it won in 1959.

Kit Tyler was orphaned years before, but it is only now that she feels like an orphan - her grandfather, Sir Francis Tyler, a well-off plantation owner on Barbados, has died and Kit finds out that all he's left behind is mountainous debt. His entire estate is sold off to pay those debts and Kit's own slave has to be sold, as well, to finance her journey to Connecticut. There, her mother's only sister, beautiful Rachel, lives with her family. She befriends Nat Eaton, the captain's son, but fails to tell him that her family isn't expecting her. He is surprised by their surprise, when Kit shows up on their doorstep, where they part ways. Kit, too, gets a surprise, when she finds that her aunt, once a great beauty, is a somewhat worn, plain woman. Clearly her life has changed her.

It takes some time for Kit to get accustomed to the ways of her aunt's family, who are Puritans (Kit had even disparagingly referred to them as "Roundheads" while still on the boat). Their simple life of hard work is a harsh existence with little joy and Kit misses much about her old life. Still, she has no one else and tries to learn to do the chores she is given to the best of her ability. When William Ashby, a young man of some means, begins to court her, Kit realizes that he might be the best chance she has to escape from the drudgery of her life under Uncle Matthew's roof. Judith, Kit's cousin, had previously set her sights on William, but when he favors Kit, she turns her attention to John Holbrook, a budding clergyman. Judith is unaware that her crippled sister, Mercy, has fallen in love with John and even less aware that John also loves Mercy.

While the prospect of escape via marriage to William is in the future, Kit lives in the present, becoming friendly with Hannah, an elderly Quaker woman who lives alone on the shore of Blackbird Pond. The townspeople believe her to be a witch, mostly because she isn't Puritan. Consorting with Hannah doesn't do much to improve Kit's standing in the town, but she laughs off the idea of herself or anyone being a witch - until they lock her up and put her on trial. Her friendships with Nat and Prudence pay off in a big way, when they appear at the trial, but Nat runs before she can thank him - and before she realizes that it is Nat that she really loves.

As a teen or pre-teen, this book would not have impressed me much, and I'd have found the romance gag-worthy. Everyone ends up with the guy they should end up with and all, it is implied, live happily ever after. As an adult, however, I really enjoyed the story. The prejudice of the time, not unlike the prejudice of ANY time period, was interesting. To read that the ability to swim was an indication that one was a witch is funny now, but a nice bit of irony for the time - the only way to prove your innocence was to die by drowning! Not perfect, and a little more "historical romance" than plain old "historical fiction", but still very nicely done.

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Do not miss!

The message is even more important now as we continue to vilify those who seem different. A fascinating look into the mindset of the people who created the Salem witch trials. (Follow up with "The Crucible") Also a feminist tale.
Young women will relate best to this story. Images and names stick with me still, 30 years later.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Sixteen year old Kit Tyler, has spent most of her life with her wealthy grandfather on his plantation on the sunny island of Barbados. She is treated like royalty and is richer than rich. Then, Kit's grandfather falls ill and dies, so Kit is forced to go live with the only family she has left, her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matthew. Kit boards a ship on its way to her aunt and uncle in Connecticut and meets a number of people. A child named Prudence loses her doll in the water and while she is reaching after it, she falls in. Kit leaps in after her without a second thought, and brings her safely back to the boat. The people on the boat were not familiar with women swimming and therefore thought she was a witch. Pretty soon word spreads and half of the town suspects Kit of being a witch. Kit befriends an old Quaker woman in the forest named Hannah Tupper who is thought as a witch herself. Kit must fight to make everyone believe they are not witches before they lose their lives. Overall, The Witch of Blackbird Pond was a very well-written and entertaining book.

One reason why this book was interesting was because of the main character, Kit Tyler. She was feisty, outspoken, and she stood up for what she believed in without a care of what anyone else thought. For example, the town thought her bright colored dresses were a sign of rebellion and her uncle warned her to stop wearing them, but she wore them anyway. Kit also befriended a woman named Hannah Tupper who not only was called a witch, but she was a Quaker as well. At the end of the story Kit married a man named Nat, who was a sailor and apparently "not good enough for her."

Another reason why this book was entertaining was the unintended humor. Something in this story that was really funny were the reasons the town accused Kit of being a witch. They thought she was a witch because she could swim, because of what she wore, and because of the things she said and did. There was a particular event in the story where Kit is teaching Prudence to read and write herself because Prudence's parents don't think Prudence is smart enough to be taught at a real school. Kit tells Prudence to continue writing her name over and over again in a book. Someone from the village finds this book and thinks Kit is trying to put a spell on Prudence because they think Kit is writing Prudence's name over and over again. Of course, Prudence defends Kit, but the people from the town think she is only protecting her because she is bewitched. Throughout the story similar events happen and they make even less sense.

This book was also enjoyable because of the ending. Even though Kit's older nice cousin Mercy, dies, the story ended well. Nat, who Kit met through her friend Hannah, is a sailor and the son of the owner of the boat Kit arrived on. In the end of the story, Kit and Nat get married and Nat gets his own ship. As a joke because of all the events that happened during the story, Nat names his ship The Witch, and promises Kit he will take her anywhere. Hannah also accompanies them both on the ship. Kit's formerly grumpy uncle becomes nicer and more open since he lost his daughter, Mercy.

The final reason this book was a good read was because of the variety of characters. The group of friends in this story are unique and unlikely to meet. The very unlikely group of friends in this story are Kit, Nat, Prudence, and Hannah. Kit is a rich and spoiled girl who is surprisingly nice. Nat is a normal sailor with a kind heart. Prudence is a little girl whose mother abuses her and thinks she is very stupid. Hannah is an odd old lady that lives in a small hut out in an abandoned meadow in the middle of a field with a black cat. Hannah Tupper is the person that really brought them all together. Even though these characters have some similar issues it seems odd that they became friends because they are from opposite worlds. All in all, this was a very good book and is good to read if you want to learn about the colony religions and also want to read a good book.
S.Brown

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